Moments
by Arkueid
Summary: In a world as twisted as theirs, is only natural for some moments to be overlooked. This is a series of one shots with no particular order, at any point of the manga and from different characters points of view. Spoilers ahead! No pairings yet.
1. Family

_Thanks to my beta reader SunaT.U for helping out with grammar and thank you for giving this a shot! I have another five chapter ready, so updates will come quick :)_

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

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**1. Family** – Sometimes only family can make you see reason.

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"I CAN'T believe her!" his friend complained loudly on their way to their shared room. His stomping could be heard from miles away. It reminded Armin about titans.

He shivered. "E-Eren, please calm down. She just wants you to stay sa—"

"Save it! I could care less!" the fourteen year old interrupted him hotly. He threw his arms in the air and let out an audibly grunt, his frustration was almost palpable. "Has she ever thought about what _I_ want? Huh? _Has _she?!"

Armin ran a hand through his hair nervously. It was not the first time that he had to play peace maker between his two best friends. He has known them for the longest after all. He always tried to stay neutral on every episode, but this time that just wouldn't do.

Eren stopped and pointed accusingly at him, "Even you have to admit that she went too far! Who does she think she is anyway? My mother?!"

Armin stopped too and flinched at his tone.

"H-huh… I-I don't…" he stuttered as his mouth tried making time for his brain to think of something intelligent to say to his distressed friend. He coughed twice and then sighed; Eren wasn't going to like this.

"I know Mikasa can be a little overprotective—" the brunette gave him a look, "O-okay, maybe more than a _little_. But see it from her point of view, Eren. Her best friend wanted to sneak past the wall, somewhere full of… of… _them_!" he shivered again. "And just for what? So he can win a bet? This time I have to agree with her. That's ridiculous!"

Eren snorted and looked away, still angry but lowering his voice. "Yeah, okay, I get it. But still, she didn't have to betray me. Why did she have to go and tell our superiors about it?" He tightened a fist until his knuckles turned white, "It's just like when we were kids… why can't she keep her mouth shut?"

The blonde scratched the side of his head in contemplation. Mikasa's actions might seem complicated to the lesser minds, but to Armin, all she did was crystal clear because he thought like that too. She was just scared to lose her precious friend.

"Look Eren, I don't think I understand her fully either, but she probably thought that was the only way to guarantee that you didn't go and get yourself killed."

Eren opened his mouth to retort, but Armin wouldn't have any of it, "She doesn't want to be alone again. She wants her family to stay together." He moved his index finger between them twice. "You and I are all she has left. Just _you _and me."

Eren's eyes widened for a second before narrowing again and straying to the wall. Armin might have been only speculating, but he was almost sure he hit a soft spot. It made him relax a bit, for at least the calamity was prevented. For now.

They stayed like that for a while, with Eren staring angrily at the wall and Armin watching him with a serious but calm expression, both having said their piece.

After a while longer, the blonde gave his friend a pat on the shoulder and walked past him to their room.

The brunette stayed rooted for a while, his mind running in circles, just now understanding how irrational he has been.

A few heartbeats later, when he thought the smaller boy was away from earshot, he murmured, "Damn it. You two are all I have left too, you know?"

Armin could only smile.


	2. First Impressions

_Hi everyone, thanks for the feedback (follows/favs and review) let's hope you keep enjoying it!_

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

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**2. First Impressions** – It's not always as it seems.

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Today Sergeant Rivaille learned that if there was something he hated more than uncleanness, it was watching new recruits train. Well, maybe he didn't hate it _that_ much, but you get the picture.

He found the whole ordeal boring and a waste of his time. He would rather be outside, going on patrol and dealing a great amount of damage to their enemies' never ending forces. But no, instead he was stuck watching some lame thirteen or something year olds making fools out of themselves.

"Don't look so down in the dumps Rivaille! Not so long ago you were one of those kids! Heck, you could still easily pass as one of them now," Zoe Hanji, his colleague, laughed. Comments like these only made his already sour mood, well, _sourer_.

"I heard there are at least a handful of them that have already passed all the physical tests with flying colors, isn't that exiting? Imagine having those kids in the Scouting Legion," she continued in an upbeat tone to which he only gave his usual dull stare.

"Really? How exiting," he said plainly with sarcasm. He stared back at the fields where the new recruits were now trying the Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear for the first time. "Is that kid over there one of the handfuls you were talking about?" he pointed to a brunette boy who was upside down. One has to be truly unskilled to end up like that.

Hanji looked at a chart she had in her arms and fixed the position of her glasses.

"That'd be Eren Jeager, from Shinganshina District. He is an average recruit… I guess not everyone has what it takes, but all the others are not half as bad though, right?"

The short young man shook his head at Jeager's incompetence and continued his examination on all other recruits. He had to admit that some were decent, but only a few were able to really catch his attention for more than two seconds.

After a few more minutes of checking each of them, Rivaille already knew who the best were, at least in 3DMG. It took more than balance to effectively kill a titan though, so he couldn't be sure if they were up to his expectations just yet.

He snorted when his eyes returned to the still upside down kid. "Can we go yet? I feel weaker just by staring at these brats."

She sighed and nodded slowly, "All right, but I hope you took a good look because Commander Irvin wants details."

Rivaille sighed again and started to walk away, "Does our opinion even matter? It's each individual's decision if they'll join the Scouting Legion or not."

It was sad, but true. He knew that the most skilled recruits ended up in the Military Police, running from the stress of been in the front lines fighting the titans. Because let's face it; skills alone won't make you join the Scouting Legion. Most of all you need the guts and the will.

Rivaille never went back to see how the recruits were doing and he all but forgot about the clumsy Eren Jeager or any of the others. It wasn't until three years later, when he was already Corporal and they had returned to Trost District after the titans breached that he heard the name again.

"Unbelievable… a person who can become a titan, and it's that same stupid brat that couldn't even use a 3DMG to save his life. What a fucked up situation," Rivaille commented, while he and Hanji walked to Irvin's office just after arriving to Trost.

"Yep, he was a shape shifter all along, now that is exciting, don't you think?" The woman was almost overflowing with enthusiasm. It always freaked him out when she got like this.

They reached Irvin's office and when he was about to turn the handle she added in a singsong voice, "You more than anyone should know not to judge a book by its cover."

He flinched. That wasn't the cover; it was the goddamned first chapter at the least.

To make matters worse, she patted his head like a little kid.

The short man slapped her hand away and gave her a nasty look as she laughed, "What does that even mean?"

He'd see for himself. He'd see if this Eren Jeager was really what he had seen three years ago, or if he was the start of the solution to the problems humanity has faced for more than a hundred years.

"Let's just get this over with."


	3. Points of View

_And here's the third one.__ Thanks for the support :) _Hope you all like it!

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

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**3. Points of view** – It's just impossible to agree with you.

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Jean Kirschtein always considered himself to be a very confident guy. He was honest and well centered. Once his mind was made up, nothing anyone could say could change it. Some might have even regarded him to be leader material, just the kind of guy you can trust to make good decisions.

That is, until he met one Mikasa Ackerman, genius extraordinaire.

For reasons unknown to him, every time he was in front of that woman, she took all his confidence away and made it painfully obvious that he was more than a little stricken with her. But the worst part was that she didn't even notice. Or didn't care, he wasn't sure, but he preferred to believe it was the former.

At first he couldn't even look at her in the eyes without becoming a bundle of nerves, every suave comment he had thought up becoming awkward 'Hi's or 'nice weather, huh?'s. Afterwards he would scream internally and turn around before he could embarrass himself further in front of his crush and that infuriating Eren Jeager.

Nowadays, a year and a half later, he can proudly say that he can at least hold a decent conversation with her without chocking on his own drool.

All of them were stronger now, a little more than a year away from graduating and taking route to their adult lives. As for Jean, he was still dead set on his decision of doing his darn hardest to be one of the best recruits and join the Military Police, as far away from those titan beasts as possible.

But alas, not everyone could agree with him.

"I still can't believe you are working your ass off to learn how to kill titans only to run away from them! How retarded is that?!" Eren Jeager, his eternal rival said from across Jean in their lunch break after he enthusiastically commented on how easy it was for those in the Military Police.

Jean was not surprised someone as thickheaded as Eren could still not understand his point. Not only was Eren always against every damn thing he said, but he also had all of Mikasa's attention. It made Jean's blood boil.

"For the hundredth time Jeager, I don't give a damn what you think. Go ahead and get eaten by them titans for all I care." His expression was bored, like he had heard the same thing a million times. The sad part is, he probably has.

Eren punched the table, just hard enough to catch his attention. "Damn it, Jean! Can't you see what they have done to humanity? Do you really believe the walls will keep us safe forever? We need to fight them now!"

The taller boy held his forehead in exasperation. "Precisely because I know what the titans have done to humanity is why I want to stay the hell away from them! As for the walls," he made a dry humorless laugh, "even a blind person can see they won't last forever. But I'd be damned if I don't spend as much of that time well and alive, thank you very much."

Eren stood up suddenly, his chair toppling over. The look he gave Jean could have killed the Colossal Titan, "Don't fuck with me! Stay well and alive my ass! You damn coward!"

Jean stood up too, his fists clenched, eyes just as murderous. "Why don't you come here and say that again, bastard?"

All around, the others saw with no surprise how the two boys traded punches. This had become so recurring that no one took any pleasure in seeing them fight anymore. Once they got going there was no stopping these two it seemed.

"Admit it!" Eren yelled after dodging a Spartan kick. "YOU ARE A COWARD!"

Jean dodged a punch to the forehead and side stepped a low kick, "Not before you admit you are just a pussy," he threw a hook to the air and dodged another kick, "weak," he connected a punch to the other boy's left cheek, "pathetic," a kick to the shin, "HERO WANNABE!" he tried to punch with all his might just to be blocked and punched on his left eye. The blow alone made him fall on a nearby empty table.

"All you do is complain and talk about slacking off after we're done with our training, instead of thinking about the good of humanity! Guys like you are the worst kind of scum!"

That was it. Jean had had it with this bastard. Today he was going to kill him. "ARRRGHHHH!" he yelled mightily before catapulting himself and knocking the other boy to the floor, where he punched him again and again.

"I. HATE. YOU. DIE. JEAGER." With every word he punched the brunette with all his might, more than their discussion fueling him.

What happened next was a blur. One moment he was punching the day lights out of Eren and the next he was thrown to the other side of the room, crashing against a wall so hard that he saw stars.

He came to seconds later and his half closed eyes landed upon the very intimidating figure of Mikasa Ackerman, carrying Eren by the collar of his shirt and looking at him with an annoyed expression.

To his utter surprise, she threw Eren against the same wall he was leaning against and stared at them both for what seemed like hours, but was really only seconds. Jean was scared shitless, but a part of his brain still felt attracted to her. Damn, she was fine.

"You two are the most stupid pair of idiots," she finally said and Jean just noticed that the room was dead silent, making the situation all the scarier. "Can't you both just agree to _disagree_?" and with that, she turned on her heels and left the room.

The silence continued for a while. Jean just stared ahead at nothingness, feeling tired and hurting all over.

"Hah! Idiots! Stupid idiots!" Sasha Braus mocked them, grabbed a potato from her plate and left after Mikasa.

Jean saw some of their guy friends approaching before losing consciousness again.

Life was so unfair.


	4. Scarf

Hello everyone! Here's moment four! one a little more to the Humor side I'd say. Thanks for the feedback, hope you enjoy it!

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

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**4. Scarf** – You can't ever have too many of those, right?

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"Say whaaaaat? Why would I participate in something like that?"

The little blonde girl pouted and looked at her friend with confusion, "But Ymir, Mikasa's birthday is just around the corner!"

Ymir stared at the girl dully, "And I should care _because_?"

_"Because_ we're friends! And that's what friends do for each other!" Sasha Braus said enthusiastically, bouncing in her bed.

Ymir sighed heavily and fell face down on her bed, if only to avoid the other girls. They were all in the room Christa, Sasha, Mikasa and herself shared for a while now, discussing what they could do about the upcoming raven-haired, genius' birthday. Why they did this on their only free day was beyond the older girl's comprehension.

Mikasa has been nowhere to be seen since that morning, probably off with those two fools, not that Ymir cared anyway. This gave the girls the perfect opportunity to plan the surprise party, plus gifts.

"Aw come on, Ymir! Don't be such a spoilsport!" Christa said getting on top of her and causing her to grunt.

"I _agree_ on doing a party or whatever. I'm game if only for the drinks and food. But why the hell should I go out to find a gift for her? I mean, I can't even think of the last time we spoke—"

To Ymir's horror, she felt a second weight on her back, "Don't ask so many questions! Just come with us!" Sasha's loud voice sounded just next to Christa's.

"Get off!"

"Aww~ so Christa can but I can't? How unfair is that?"

"You weight like a million kilos! Now, get off!"

Sasha looked at Christa and they both smiled evilly, "Not until you agree to come with us."

Ymir tried to move both of them off but the other girls putted more pressure on her, making her only tire faster. It seemed she wasn't getting out of this one… so much for her free day.

"Fine! Whatever! Just get off!"

And that was how the three girls ended up in Trost District's busiest part, looking for a new scarf for their girl friend.

"I don't get it, why did _I_ have to come but Annie and the others didn't?" Ymir asked Christa, still annoyed her free day was spent like this.

Sasha was off at a nearby bread stand complaining to the clerk about the high prices.

Christa grabbed a strand of her hair and looked at her patiently. "Well, we didn't find any of the others anywhere. As for Annie, I don't think she would have wanted to come. Mikasa and her are not really, err, friendly with each other."

Ymir looked at the petite girl with a dumbfounded expression and was about to retort that she wasn't Mikasa's best friend either when the blonde girl grabbed her hand and dragged her to a nearby stand, effectively cutting off whatever she was about to say.

"Let's go there! I see lots of pretty scarfs! Sasha, come on!"

For the next three hours, Christa and Sasha dragged an extremely pissed Ymir from shop to shop looking for the perfect scarf. After the tenth failed attempt, Ymir's patience just fell and died.

"Did you two fucking notice that we've spent three fucking hours here?! How fucking hard could find a fucking scarf be?! Fuck!" she all but yelled at the two girls.

"Ymir!" Christa said covering her mouth in surprise.

Sasha was just as surprised but burst out laughing at the older girl's reaction and this in turn, pissed her off more.

"Just decide on one already! Doesn't she always wear the same one anyway!? It won't even matter!"

Christa and Sasha looked at each other in surprise once more.

"Now that you mention it, she does, doesn't she? It's always that maroon scarf," Christa said with a pensive expression.

Sasha scratched her head, "Hmm, I'm sure I've seen her with a different one."

"No, I think she only—"

"DOES IT EVEN FRIGGING MATTER?!" Ymir yelled again, exasperated. She stomped to the nearest cloth stand with purpose, all but ripped a blue scarf from where it was hanging and glared at the clerk. She paid whatever it was worth and began her walk back to the institute, the other two girls barely keeping up with her.

When Mikasa's birthday came, the girls prepared a big cake for everyone to share and they all drank, ate and generally enjoyed the evening.

Finally when it was time to give their gift, Ymir watched Mikasa's reaction closely.

"It's… a scarf," she said softly with wide eyes. "Thank you." She then smiled and thanked all three of them. Ymir waved her off, even though she was the one who paid for the damn thing. The other two girls beamed and hugged the birthday girl, squealing all the while and making Ymir smile just a _tiny_ little bit.

One year later and every single day Mikasa still wore the same scarf, which was, to Ymir's annoyance, _not_ the one they picked for her.

She swore never to go gift hunting, EVER.


	5. Mission

Yay, another chapter! thanks for taking the time to read, hugs to everyone!

**SPOILER ALERT: this chapter has a huge spoiler of the manga, if you haven't read it yet, skip this one.**

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

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**5. Mission** – There's something that needs to be done, no matter what.

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"…they're all… they're all dead. Just what the hell has the world become?" he heard a man cry with his hands on the floor, the sorrow of losing his friends consuming him. Bertholdt felt his heart give a tug, more remorse pilling in his already overwhelmed mind.

They were finally able to rest after Eren had sealed the broken wall in Trost with that huge boulder and even if what happened resulted on humanity's first victory, the losses were still too high. No one would be celebrating today.

Beside him, Reiner had been glaring at the floor, teeth clenched. Bertholdt knew that once the blonde got like this, it was better to leave him alone. He wasn't sure what Reiner this was, the soldier or the warrior, and this was what worried him the most.

"Now more than ever I understand what Eren meant. We need to be part of this and save human kind!" his friend told him with determination after a while.

So it was the soldier then.

The raven-haired teen only stared at Reiner with sadness as he continued. "I swear I'll help kill as many of those titans as I can! I swear Bertholdt, you'll see."

Other men and women were around them, getting treated for their injuries or just resting after today's hectic events, but none of them really paid attention to what they were discussing. That was fine, it made everything easier.

Bertholdt sighed and placed a hand on his only true friend's shoulder, "Reiner, you need to get a hold of yourself, this is not who you really are." He paused as his friend looked at him weirdly.

"What are you talking about, Bertholdt?"

He sighed; he was growing worried about the frequency of these delusions his friend seemed to be having. Only saying _this_ worked to bring him back, "You are not a soldier. You're a warrior, remember?"

The change in the blonde's face was radical. His determined eyes changed to confusion, then to understanding and finally to deep sorrow. "I— this is… what was I even saying?"

As usual, Reiner placed his hand on his forehead. The taller teen could only assume that Reiner was going through a massive headache, plus the confusion of it all. He couldn't even imagine what it could be like to be at odds with who you are.

"But I… Bertholdt, I don't know what we're doing… anymore…" He looked at Bertholdt with desperation then, truly at loss on what to do. It was up to him to once more guide his friend to their original path.

"We need to get back to our village at all costs. We need to bring Eren with us," he said with serious determination, holding Reiner's arm tightly. They stared at each other for a while and Bertholdt could feel his friend trembling a bit. He held on tighter.

"R-right. At all costs," he finally said with his head downcast.

That's right. They have a mission to do, and until they did, more people would have to die and more sorrow will fill their hearts. Until then, he swore he would endure it, all of it. Even if he got as lost as Reiner, he will never give up.

They were warriors after all.


End file.
